Planeside

[Deathkeeper]

Wilderness

Jace shakes his head. Yep, that's definitely no good.
How are they going to see their status now?
"First thing, we should check the rocks for anything like flint. Useful from fires to spears, that is. Next we should find some wood for a fire, though that's going to be fairly hard without an axe." he says, thinking aloud.

"Aw come on, is that any way to greet someone who wants to be friends? I just want to ask for directions!" says the dragon.

[Ionbound]

Shadow Highway

Steven nods, taking this seriously.
"Yeah, definitely. We should put in a word with Orochi's people. It's not like we can just put up a signpost." he says.

Helen nods and says, "Hopefully once we get there Lord Orochi will put some patrols out or something." She frowns thoughtfully as she walks, eventually saying, "I wonder who sent those golems. Didn't we make peace with the Jade Emperor?"

[Rebonack]

[Wilderness]

Fortuna gives a nod. "I spent a few years out in the Wasteland, so I've got a bit of survival experience. Hopefully there aren't very many irradiated, feral dragon mutants wandering around like there were back home," she says whilst stooping over to pick up a rock. She can't help but frown at the thing. "Weird... Hey Jace? Go grab some more of these rocks. See if you notice anything unusual about them."

The one Fortuna picked up?

It happens to be shaped just right for an axe-head.

If Jace starts looking around he'll discover a similar trend. The are plenty of flinty rocks about and they all look like they've already been sharpened and shaped for various uses.

How strange!

Meanwhile!

The rabbit, if it could understand Zebes, probably wouldn't believe him. Clearly the dragon wants to feast on the bunny's entrails.

[Deathkeeper]

Wilderness

Jace gingerly picks up the rocks, careful to avoid slicing his fingers.
"Weird. This couldn't be natural. Though now I guess we just need a handle to put them on and we can go look for the heavy stuff for the fire." he says, a bit confused.

Zebes merely waits. Everyone knows you don't pounce a bunny from the front!

[Rebonack]

[Wilderness]

One would think that after all the weirdness Jace has lived through something like unnatural rocks wouldn't sit too high on the weirdness scale.

Ah well.

Scattered about are tufts of tall grass that appears simultaneously dry enough for burning and tough enough for weaving. Then there are all those smallish, twiggy shrubs that abound in 'Y' shaped branches just thick enough to function as a handle. It's almost as if this whole place had been designed to function as a 'My First Wilderness Survival' setting.

Probably not the strangest thing in the Nexus, truth be told.

Fortuna, meanwhile, is busy clamping her crescent wrench down on the back of the chunk of flint she had picked up, using the tool as a make-shift axe handle. Looks like that wrench will be useful after all.

Meanwhile!

The rabbit turns around eventually and begins nibbling on the ground cover.

[Deathkeeper]

Wilderness

Jace grumpily gathers the various stringy and sturdy wood, and other important fire-building things. This will take a short bit, whereupon Zebes will be continuing to stalk his prey, making sure it doesn't act suspicious in any way. Don't need any weird backup here. He's seen Tarzan.

"Think it's fine to make fire and camp right here?" he asks.

[Holy-hunter]

Yggdrasil

"Yeah! Call the squirrels."

Arlen shouts with excitement, as he practically jumps up and down with a joyous eager anticipation.

[Fenric]

[Shadow Highway]

Helen nods and says, "Hopefully once we get there Lord Orochi will put some patrols out or something." She frowns thoughtfully as she walks, eventually saying, "I wonder who sent those golems. Didn't we make peace with the Jade Emperor?"

Frederick nods

Or steps them up, anyway. There have been a couple of guards, but they're too few and far between with bandit-types roaming around.

Then he shakes his head

I don't know... there was a representative from the Bureaucracy there and as far as I know, Izanagi and folks are still formally allied with them, so I would assume they were in on it...

Maybe it's more Nexus shenanigans - someone from an alternate universe where the Shinto and Taoist pantheons still hate each other?

Then he frowns

Or somebody lying! They were in the kinda the wrong sort of armor to be from the Bureaucracy, especially with the archer spouting crap like he did.

[Deathkeeper]

Shadow Highway

"Or someone a few centuries ago lost their toys and never retrieved them." he shrugs.
"We can't know for sure here and now. Let's keep moving."

[Rebonack]

[Wilderness]

The jackalope is still just as oblivious as it was previously. Though... in its nibbling the critter is moving slowly toward its nearby burrow.

Meanwhile!

Fortuna gives a nod. "Probably. Or at least we could gather some of the supplies to have on hand."

Heh.

On hand.

She's picked up all sorts of phrases from the humans, hasn't she?

Regardless, she begins wailing at one of the trees with her axe-wrench. After a surprisingly short amount of time, the evergreen topples over and immediately fractures into a heap of needles, some pine cones, and several pieces of perfectly split cord-wood.

Fortuna blinks at the pile of supplies.

"Umm... I didn't make it do that. At least I'm pretty sure I didn't."

[Deathkeeper]

Wilderness

Jace shakes his head a bit.
"The place must be based on certain mechanics and such that normal reality doesn't follow. Perhaps it's some being's pocket dimension?"

Meanwhile, Zebes waits. If the whole place seems to be things done easy, then They wouldn't put a lagomorph trap in the first area, would they?
Zebes pounces, going straight for the throat.

[Ionbound]

[Shadow Highway]

"Yeah. We should keep moving. We used up a lot of energy in that fight..."

[Earl of Purple]

Yggdrasil

"I'm going by the sap-road. You can come with, or not, if you'd all rather stick together. I'll see you there." Korisfa turns and walks off, though she isn't walking so fast and turns her head back to see if she's followed.

Blodau, meanwhile, is making squirrel noises at her Ratatosk, convincing it to let these other strange mortals onto its back. Once done, she climbs up, sitting behind its head. "Right, come on up behind me. Since you've not ridden one before, sit behind me and cling on. Yteved will sit at the back, to keep sure you don't fall off."

[Recaiden]

[Yggdrasil]

Cleo hurries after Korisfa, until she's following at a comfortable distance behind the link-dryad.
To the sap!

[Holy-hunter]

[Yggdrasil]
Arlen quickly follows behind Blodau, making sure he is the first on. He watches as Cleo walks off,

"Have fun, see you there" he shouts as he waves his arm around.

He them turns to Fixer as he climbs on,
"Recon it will be faster then a horse?" He asks excitedly.

[Rebonack]

[Wilderness]

Zebes attacks!

Or, well, he pounces anyway.

The jackalope gives a horrible screaming noise before diving down its burrow.

Whoops.

Looks like that didn't work so well. Better luck next time?

Meanwhile!

Fortuna picks up a chunk of wood and frowns at it. "Probably so. And that might mean that something unpleasant is watching us. Possibly the same something that pulled us here to begin with."

[Deathkeeper]

Wilderness

Jace nods.
"For now, at least, I say we play along. We'll see what we can come up with in the meantime." he says, arranging the wood in a circle of stones as is proper before trying to get some sparks from the flint. Zebes trots over and sits down nearby.

[Fenric]

[Shadow Highway]

It is without further incident that the vaguely familiar (to Helen and Frederick, at an rate) spires of Orochi's obsidian palace become visible. Orochi's dragon-like guards are much more common here.

Almost there!

[Rebonack]

[Wilderness]

Making sparks with the flint turns out to be totally unneeded.

Why?

As soon as the wood, stones, and a bit of dry grass are added together the pile spontaneously ignites with a WOOSH!

Yup.

This place is really weird.

But at least they have a fire now, right?

The weird voice had warned them they would need one.

So what's next on the agenda?

Fortuna's stomach makes a rather audible growling noise. No. Really. It sounds like a growling lion. She glances down at it and provides Jace with a sheepish grin. "I guess we find something to eat next?"

There are a bunch of berry bushes growing nearby.

...and are those... carrots?

[Deathkeeper]

shadow highway

Steven, with the palace in sight, finally discards the shadow he'd been carrying just in case.
"Glad that went about as well as we could have hoped." he says, his feet just a little bit sore.

Wilderness

Carrots would make perfect sense. Got to have tasty roots for bunnies to be making burrows.

Jace eyes the roots and goes to pull one out of curiosity.
"Think you could identify berries? Those are always kind of risky." he says.

[Ionbound]

[Shadow Highway]

Helen nods and says, "Yeah...That fight was really weird though."

[Cyber Punk]

Yggdrasil

((Oop! Sorry, guys!))

Fixer climbs on the giant squirrel, trying to get into a comfortable position before clinging on. The sap would have been the logical decision, but if only he had access to some kind of hammerspace backpack... he decides he'll get one when he gets to Mallside.

"Only one way to find out!" He pats Arlen. "Time to get this show on the road." Felicity would have loved this place if she weren't busy scratching Xun's ears back at MERCs.

[Fenric]

[Shadow Palace Gates]

Frederick nods

Weird and upleasant.

The guards here look are distinctly dragonish, but long and lithe like the eastern dragons they are modeled after. They halt the group in a somewhat bored manner.

State your business

[Earl of Purple]

Yggdrasil- Sap Road

Korisfa is also followed by Veggmaleri. She leads her group around the tree's trunk, before sticking some fingers in her mouth and emitting a piercing whistle, creating the tree's bark to split, opening a gash in the wood, revealing a stream of glowing amber liquid, flowing upwards towards the trading post. "Don't worry about holding your breathe- it's almost pure life energy. It might be uncomfortable, but it won't drown you. Here, take my hand. I'll guide you through, and get you out." It won't matter if they get stuck and can't get out, because, being a form of life energy, they won't age, thirst, hunger or breathe whilst immersed.

Yggdrasil- Squirrel Riding

When they're all mounted, Blodau smiles. "I've never ridden a horse, but Ratatosk are faster than centaur. Don't hold the fur- it doesn't provide an adequate grip. Put your arms around the waist of whomever is in front. Yteved and I won't let you fall." Yteved put her arms around the Fixer, as instructed, and if Arlen puts his around Blodau, she'll put her hand on his forearm whilst her other strokes the Ratatosk's ears.

When she's happy everyone's on and safe, Blodau will squeak and chirp like a squirrel, instructing the Ratatosk to gallop off up the World Tree's trunk. It starts off quite slow, but quickly gains speed. The motion is a bit more flexible underneath than a horse, as the squirrel's whole body moves to make its stride longer; it's also faster than a horse, Blodau smiling and laughing as the Ratatosk races 'up' Yggdrasil, the dryad behind its head providing no further directions and trusting the squirrel's instincts.

[Deathkeeper]

Shadow Palace

Steven is a bit more polite this time.
"We are visiting relatives, and thus seek an audience with Lord Orochi if he is available to see us." he says properly.

[Recaiden]

[Yggdrasil - Sap Road]

That looks ... dangerous. A lot of energy to be stuck in.
But Cleo just takes the dryad's hand and lets Korisfa pull her in.

Being stuck forever might still be objectionable. There's a universe out there to care about.

[Cyber Punk]

Yggdrasil- Squirrel Riding

"Ah, I see. Thanks." Fixer lets go of the fur and puts his arms round Arlen's waist.

"Woah. I guess that answers your question, kid." Arlen might be able to hear a slight chuckle.

[Fenric]

[Shadow Palace Gates]

The guard looks them over

And which of the multitude of shadow foxes are you?

Frederick chuckles

We haven't been around here enough. So, this is Royal Princess Helen Avery no Mae, daughter of Noriko and granddaughter of Orochi. This is Steven Lindt: Messenger in training of Tamamo no Mae, and I'm Frederick Elteron NorZilliar.

The guard freezes for a moment, looks at Helen and tries to subtly cast a minor divination. His eyes go wide and he bows deeply and formally

My sincere apologies, your Highness: we will send word to your grandfather immediately. Please, do come in and have a seat here in the guardhouse - I'm sure a herald will be along promptly.

[Deathkeeper]

Shadow Palace Gates

Steven, for his part, merely smiles and waits for the guards to do their thing.

[Holy-hunter]

Yggdrasil- Squirrel Riding

Arlen is surprisingly silent, with a large grin on his face and his cheeks a little rosy red he tilts his head sideways leaning against Bodau as he holds her tightly.

For a while and on further occasions he looks around wide eyed and full of curiosity at their surroundings, but for most part he closes his eyes in a content relaxation.

Behind those eyelids and his calm demeanour the mind is racing.